A $7,500 Electric Car Discount Scares Dealers

The Obama administration has proposed a plan to give $7,500 to electric car buyers without having to jump through any tax hoops, as part of their effort to put 1 million of the vehicles on the road by 2015. Advocates of plug-in cars like the concept, but auto dealers and finance companies are not so sure.

CNN Money reports:

A tax credit for plug-in vehicles already exists but, as it stands now, car buyers have to wait until tax time to get any money back. Consumers buying qualifying plug-in vehicles are eligible for a tax credit of between $2,500 and $7,500 depending on the size of the vehicle's battery pack.

The administration hopes in-dealership discounts will encourage more car buyers to choose electric vehicles. Details are still being worked out, but car dealers, who remember all the problems associated with the "Cash for Clunkers" program, are worried that this system could cause them more headaches.

One thing dealers are concerned about, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, is that if they give a discount up-front, it could be difficult for them to recoup their money from the government later on, should a problem arise.

But the plug-in tax credit is much simpler than either Cash for Clunkers or the non-plug-in hybrid tax credit said Genevieve Cullen, vice president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association.

The plug-in tax credit allows for the full amount to be taken by anyone, rich, poor or in-between, she said, as long as the vehicle being purchased is on a list of qualifying cars.

Continue reading at CNN.com...

Ford to Move Hybrid and Electric-Car Jobs to Michigan

Great news for Michigan! Recently, Ford Motor Company has announced that they are investing $135 million to design, engineer and produce key components for its next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles in Michigan. These vehicles will go into production in 2012. Ford states that Michigan will become its “center of excellence for vehicle electrification” and will add 170 combined green technology jobs at the Rawsonville and Van Dyke Transmission plants, as well as 50 electric vehicle engineer jobs. In an article posted on the Ford website, Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm stated, “Today’s announcement by Ford represents another step forward in moving Michigan from the Rust Belt to the Green Belt by investing in green technology and creating green jobs.”

Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission plant will produce a new electric-drive trans-axle for the new hybrids; this will move work to Michigan that is currently performed by a supplier in Japan. Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan will begin to assemble the battery packs in 2012—moving work to Michigan that is currently performed in Mexico.

The new hybrids are part of Ford’s plan to launch five electric vehicle models in the United States by 2012 and in Europe by 2013. I will be looking forward to the impact on our environment as well as our economy in the coming years.

Read the full article here.

Electric-Car Companies Grab U.S. Cash to Blunt Risks

From Bloomberg.com:

Electric-car makers ranging from Ford Motor Co. to California startups are using $11 billion in taxpayer funds to supply a market that doesn’t yet exist.

Fisker Automotive Inc., backed by a $528.7 million U.S. loan, said today it will join the rush to the assembly line by buying a closed Delaware plant from the former General Motors Corp. for $18 million. It will spend $175 million to refurbish and retool the factory to build plug-in hybrid cars.

Obama administration aid to spur demand for more fuel- efficient autos is luring companies including General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. into the electric-car push. The result may be a supply of new vehicles that outstrips demand, said Michael Omotoso, a senior manager for J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan.

“The U.S. government is saying we’ll have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015; we’re saying it will take three to five years longer,” Omotoso said. “Realistically, manufacturers could be selling 80,000 to 100,000 by 2015.”

Investors betting on acceptance of electric autos include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture-capital firm that employs former Vice President Al Gore and is backing Fisker.

“A huge amount of private capital is on the sideline, so a new locus for funding right now is the U.S. government,” said Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins who works on the firms’ alternative energy investments. “The Department of Energy has stepped into the role of private capital, at least temporarily.”

GM May Have 60,000 Volt Electric Cars Out In 2011

Insiders at GM have revealed that the auto-maker may be planning to have over 60,000 of their Volt electric cars on the road within one year of launching in 2010. GM product chief Bob Lutz said he plans to sell the first Volt by late 2010, and expects to have prototypes ready for testing early next year. Insiders claim that production is set to produce 60,000 vehicles for the official launch, however GM spokesman Scott Fosgard declined to comment on the plans. ``If they {GM} were able to get 30,000 to 60,000 on the road in a year, it would be a huge leap in technology,'' claims Brett Smith, an alternative-fuel analyst in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ``It will be difficult, though, because there are so many barriers to making this happen.'' Source: Bloomberg.